Gun-register.



No. 792,073. PATENTED JUNE 13, 1905. W. O. HAIR-DON & F. E. MORGAN.

GUN REGISTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.8.1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WiZ QQS ses n /e Cons No. 792,073. PATENTED JUNE 18, 1905. W. O. RAIRDON & F. E. MORGAN.

GUN REGISTER.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 8. 1904,

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

WIZnesses [In/97110;

I EED STATES Patented June 13, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM C. RAIRDON AND FRANK E. MORGAN, OF HAVENSVILLE,

KANSAS.

GUN-REGISTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 792,073, dated June 13, 1905.

' Application filed August 8, 1904. Serial No. 219,870.

To all whom it may concern.-

-Be it known that we, WILLIAM C. RAIRDON and FRANK E. MORGAN, citizens of the United States of America, residing at Havensville, in The county of Pottawatomie and State of Kansas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Gun-Registers, of which the following is a specification.

The invention has special reference to a register which is to be used for registering the number of shots which have been fired from. a gun, special application of such a device being useful in connection with repeating arms, such as repeatin'g'rifles, Thus in a sixteen-shot rifle if we have a register-adapted to register sixteen shots we may note by glancing at the dial'ho-w many shots have been fired, or by arranging the numbers in reverseorder on the dial the register may register the number of shots remaining to hefired.

The object of the invention'is to provide a device of' this nature which may be economic in construction, readily applied to existing guns, as well as being-also adapted to be constructed with them, which is light and not cumbersome, and which may be embedded in the stock of the gun, if desired, without in any measure destroying the efficiency of the gun.

It consists of the novel combination, arrangement, and disposition ,of the parts, the preferred form of the embodiment whereof is herein described and claimed and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which Figure l is a side elevation view of the lock mechanism of the gun with a broken portion of the stock shown in section through the line 1 1, Fig. 7, showing the lever applied to the lock mechanism, the rod connecting the lever with the register proper, and a sectional view of the register through the line 1 1, Fig. 5. This view shows the important features of the device, except that the spring and dial are not shown therein. Fig. 2 is a view similar to the corresponding portion of Fig. 1, being a side view of the register with the top plate 14 removed, so as to show the mechanism as if taken through the line 2 2, Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a side View of the register detached. Fig. 4 is a rear or bottom view of the register, showing the stop device. Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the gun-stock through the line 7 7, Fig. 1, showing the form of the recess in which the register and connections are placed. Fig. 6 shows the form of the springs 20 and 35.-- Fig. 7 is an enlarged top view of the register, showing the dial in place, together with the latch. Fig. 8 is an enlarged outside view of the portion of the gun-stock,

showing the face-plate in place thereon to cover the registering device, except such parts as are to be seen and operated.

Like reference letters and numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views.

A represents thegun-s tock,and B the lock mechanism as a whole, whereby-the shot is fired, 0 being the hammer and D the trigger.

Secured to the under side of the upper tailpiece 6 of the lock-mechanism frame is a plate 3, on which are a couple of standards 4t, one on each side of the lever 6, which is pivoted therebetween at 5. The forward end of the lever 6 extends underneath the rear end of the hammer C, so' as to be moved thereby as the hammer is raised and lowered in the usual manner of cooking and firing the gun. The rear end 8 is engaged by a flat spring 9, which forces the lever into its normal position, as shown in the drawings. The other arm 10 of lever 6 is pivoted at 11 to the connecting-rod 12, from all which it is clear that the object of this lever is that the rod 12 may be reciprocated back and forth by the movement of the hammer C.

The registering device has a frame consisting of the two plates, the upper 14 and the lower 13, heldproperly spaced apart for containing the operating mechanism by the standards or separators 15 '15 15. Extending through both of these plates is the shaft 16, to which is keyed the ratchet-wheel 17. The pawl 18, pivoted to the lower plate 13, operates in the usual manner in connection with spring to prevent the ratchet-wheel from returning. The pawl has a tailpiece 19.

The end 12' of the connecting-rod 12 has a 17 and is held in place by a cleat 12", while its length may be nicely regulated by the turnbuckle 12. The bell-crank lever 21, which is pivoted to an offset 13 of the lower plate 13, holds the end of the rod 12 in engagement with the ratchet 17 by reason of the tension of the spring 22, from which it is clear that as the rod 12 is reciprocated forward and backward the ratchet-wheel is adapted to be turned step by step in the ordinary manner of such devices. A lever 23 is also pivoted to the lower plate and is provided with two arms 23, to engage the rod 12, and 23", to engage the tailpiece 19 of pawl 18, and with a handle 24, which projects upwardly to .the outside to be operated by the hand or finger. The two arms 23' and 23" are so arranged with relation to each other and to the parts on which they operate that when the handle 24 is pushed upwardly a slight distance the rod 12 is freed from the ratchet-wheel -17 but the arm 23 does not engage the tailpiece 19 of the pawl 18; but as the handle is pushed upwardly still farther then both rod 12 and pawl 18 will be freed from the ratchet-wheel 17 Secured to the shaft 16 is the spring 26, the other end of which is made fast to the standard 15. The spring is so arranged that as the ratchet-wheel is actuated by the rod 12 the shaft 16 'is turned against the tension of the spring. The purpose of the spring is to return the parts to their initial position when the ratchetwheel is properly released by means of the handle 24. A circular plate 25 may be placed between the spring 26 and the ratchet-wheel 17 and the other engaging parts, so as to properly separate the moving parts.

On the outside of the upper plate 14 is the rotatable dial 27, suitably marked. The dial is secured to the shaft 16 to rotate therewith, as by attaching it on the outer squared end thereof, as indicated in the drawings. The plate 14 is slotted (29) to permit the extension therethrough of the handle 24, operatively.

A latch or stop 31 is pivoted to the extended end of the standard 15. The latch has a finger 32, a handle 33, and a couple of notches 37 37 engaged by a spring 35, having the bend end'36. 1n the position shown in the drawings the finger 32 is extended across the slot 29, so as to permit only a partial movement of the handle 24, enough to take the rod 12 out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel 17, but not enough to bring the arm 23" into engagement with the tailpiece 19 of the pawl If the latch is moved back so as to bring the other notch 37 into engagement with the spring and the finger 32 away from the slot, the handle 24 will be allowed to be moved its full stroke, enough to take both the rod 12 and the pawl 18 out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel, and if the latch be again returned to the position shown in the drawings, but with the handle 24 above instead of below the finger 32, the register would be disconnected from operation. The spring serves to hold the latch in either positioni. 6., with the finger extending across the slots 29 and 29' or with the finger away therefrom, yet permitting the latch to be shifted by the handle 33. In the first position the movement of the throw-off is limited, so as to only throw off the connecting-rod Without affecting the holding-pawl, and in the second position both the connecting-rod and holding-pawl are disengaged from the ratchet-wheel, thereby permitting the ratchet-wheel to be returned to initial position.

On the outside of the register and screwed to the stock is the face-plate 28, having the aperture 30, through which maybe seen the single numeral indicating the number of shots which have been fired. This plate also has a slot 29, corresponding to the slot 29 of the plate 14, to admit the extension therethrough of the handle 24. It also has a slot 34 to permit the operative extension therethrough of the handle 33 of the latch 31.

On the underside of the plate 13 and secured to the lower squared end of the shaft 16 is the stop device 38, having the radial arm 39,

adapted to engage the stud 40 on the said plate 13. The purpose of this device is that when the ratchet-Wheel 17 is released from the pawl 18 the spring 26 cannot turn the shaft and dial further than till the arm 39 engages with the stud 40.

The gun-stock is recessed (E) in form corresponding to the form of the register, having the opening 6 to accommodate the offset 13, lever 21, and spring 22 and having the forward extension 6' wherein the turnbuckle may be accessible for adjustment of the stroke of the rod and having the hole 6" bored therefrom to the lock mechanism for the extension therethrough of the rod 12.

The operation is as follows: When the gun is cooked by pulling back the hammer C, (it being understood that the drawings show the entire mechanism in its normal position, hammer down, andregister at zero,) the rear end of the hammer forces down the forward end of the lever 6 against the tension of spring 9, and thereby forces back the hooked end of the rod 12 ready to engage the next notch on the ratchet-wheel 17. No other parts of the mechanism, so far as the register is concerned, are 'moved during the cooking of the gun. On pulling the trigger and firing the gun the movement of the hammer permits the spring 9 to force the lever 6 to its normal position, and thereby the ratchet-wheel is turned one notch by the forward movement of the rod 12 against the tension of the spring 26, and the dial 27 is caused to turn with the shaft, so as to bring the next figure (the figure 1 into register with the aperture 30, which indicates that one shot has been fired, and so on until the entire number of shots (sixteen) has been fired and shown on the register. The teeth y no movement of the dial 27 will result.

are removed from a portion IT of the periphery of. the ratchet-wheel 17, so that after the register has reached 16, or whatever the limit may be, the hooked end 12' of the rod 12 will not cause the ratchet-wheel to be moved further, thereby destroying any of the parts of the mechanism. Of course this particular part is not necessary in all devices, but only in those using the stop device like that shown in the drawings. If it be desired to lower the hammer after it has been cocked without firing and Without registering, the handle 24 may be moved to the finger 32, which, as heretofore explained, will permit the movement of the hammer and of the rod 12 without engaging the ratchet-wheel 17, and consequently If at any time it be desired. to return the register to the zero-mark, the finger 32 should be thrown away from the slots 29 29' to permit of the full movement of the handle 24, with the effect of freeing the ratchet-wheel 17 from both rod 12 and pawl 18, whereupon the spring 26 will cause the parts to return to their initial zero position, the stop 40 preventing them from turning beyond that. If it be desired not to use the locking device at all, then the handle 24 may be locked behind or above the finger 32, as heretofore explained, and when in this position it is clear that althoughthe rod 12 may be actuated by the hammerit will be without operating the register. Although the foregoing explanation gives the preferred form of constructing and using the invention, it will be understood that we do not intend to be unduly limited to the exact description herein and that we contemplate changes in the form, proportion, material, and size and the substitution of equivalent members without in any degree departing from the spirit of the invention.

Although any meansimay be employed for securing the springs 35 and 20 to the plates 14 and 13, respectively, we have shown the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 8, the main portion 50 of the spring having a lateral pro' jection 51, which may be driven into a corresponding slot in the said plates.

What we claim is 1. In a gun-register, the combination with the frame, of the ratchet-wheel mounted therein and the indicating device connected operatively therewith, the pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel, the connections operatively extending between the lock mechanism and the ratchet-wheel, the spring tending to return the parts to their initial positions, together with the throw-ofi adapted by initial movement to disengage the connections from the ratchetwheel and by further movement to disengage both connections and pawl from the ratchet-wheel, substantially asset forth.

2. The combination with a gun, of a register aflixed thereto comprising a rotatable dialplate, the ratchet-wheel, the spring, and the stop device all attached to the same shaft, the shaft, the frame therefor, the lever engaging with the hammer, and the rod connecting the lever with the ratchet-wheel in one-way engagement with said wheel, and the pawl for the ratchet-wheel; together with the throwoff adapted to engage the connecting-rod and the pawl, and adapted by initial movement to disengage the connecting-rod from the ratchet-wheel and by further movement to disengage both connecting-rod and pawl from the ratchet-wheel; substantially as set forth.

3. In a gun-register, the combination with the frame, of the ratchet-wheel mounted therein and the indicating device operatively connected therewith, the holding-pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel, the connections operatively extending between the lock mechanism and the ratchet-wheel, the spring tending to return the parts to initial positions; together with the throw-off 23 engaging the connections and the holding-pawl and adapted by initial movement to disengage the connections from the ratchet-wheel, and by further movement to disengage both connections and pawl from the ratchet-wheel, and a latch for limiting the movement of the throw-off, and for holding it in engagement with said connections and holding-pawls; substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presence of subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM C. RAIRDON. FRANK E. MORGAN.

Witnesses:

CLARENCE W. RAIRDoN, Geo. E. RARIGK. 

